One And The Same
by We're All M-M-Mad Here
Summary: James Sirius Potter's journey through Hogwarts with his best friend Fred at his side. See how he interacts with his family, his friends, his teachers and anyone else he might come across. Although one person in particular to stand out is Katerina Montgomery, a red-head that neither him or Fred can get out of their heads, and you can't have one without the other. Warning! Slash!


**Author's Note: Okay, I know this will be the third story I will have going on, but I've just left high school and I'm rather spacey and having a hard time focusing on one thing, but this has been stuck in my head for ages and I just want to write it now before I lose inspiration. Oh and there will be an OC's in this story, but the most important one will not be in it for a while as she will be in the same year as Albus.**

**Ages, just in case unclear: **

**Teddy – 17 (In 7****th**** year)**

**Victoire – 16 **

**Molly – 18**

**Lucy – 10**

**Fred – 11**

**Roxanne – 10**

**Rose – 9**

**Hugo – 7**

**James – 11**

**Albus – 9**

**Lily – 7**

**Scorpius – 9**

**Lorcan – 7**

**Lysander – 12 (for the sake of the story, they aren't twins)**

**Alice – 7**

**Frank - 17**

Chapter One

_The Weasley/Potter Family_

**Dumbledore's Army Reunites At Quidditch World Cup Final**

_**By the**_** Daily Prophet's **_**Gossip Correspondent, Rita Skeeter.**_

_There are celebrities – and then there are _celebrities. _We've seen many a famous face from the wizarding world grace the stands here in the Patagonian Desert – Ministers and Presidents, Celestina Warbeck, controversial American wizarding band The Bent-Winged Snitches – all have caused flurries of excitement, with crowd members scrambling for autographs and even casting Bridging Charms to reach the VIP boxes over the heads of the crowd. _

_But when words swept the campsite and stadium that a certain gang of infamous wizards (no longer the fresh-faced teenagers they were in their heyday, but nevertheless recognisable) had arrived for the final, excitement was beyond anything yet seen. As the crowd stampeded, tents were flattened and small children mown down. Fans from all corners of the globe storms towards the area where members of Dumbledore's Army were rumoured to have been sighted, desperate above all else for a glimpse of the man they still call the Chosen One._

_The Potter family and the rest of Dumbledore's Army have been given accommodation in the VIP section of the campsite, which is protected by heavy charms and patrolled by Security Warlocks. Their presence has ensured large crowds along the cordoned area, all hoping for a glimpse of their heroes. At 3pm today they got their wish when, to the accompaniment of loud screams, Potter took his young sons James and Albus to visit the players' compound, where he introduced them to Bulgarian Seeker Viktor Krum. _

_About to turn 34, there are a couple of threads of silver in the famous Auror's black hair, but he continues to wear the distinctive round glasses that some might say are better suited to a style-deficient twelve-year-old. The famous lightning scar has company: Potter is sporting a nasty cut over his right cheekbone. Requests for information as to its provenance merely produced the usual response from the Ministry of Magic: 'We do not comment on the top secret work of the Auror department, as we have told you no less than 514 times, Ms. Skeeter.' So what are they hiding? Is the Chosen One embroiled in fresh mysteries that will one day explode upon us all, plunging us into a new age of terror and mayhem?_

_Or does his injury have a more humble origin, one that Potter is desperate to hide? Has his wife perhaps cursed him? Are cracks beginning to show in a union that the Potters are determined to promote as happy? Should we read anything into the fact that his wife Ginevra has been perfectly happy to leave her husband and children behind in London whilst reporting on this tournament? The jury is out on whether she really had the talent to be sent to the Quidditch World Cup (jury's back in – no!) but let's face it, when your last name is Potter, doors open, international sporting bodies bow and scrape, and _Daily Prophet_ editors hand you plum assignments._

_As their devoted fans and followers will remember, Potter and Krum competed against each other in the controversial Triwizard Tournament, but apparently there are no hard feelings, as they embraced upon meeting (what really happened in that maze? Speculation is unlikely to be quelled by the warmth of their greeting). After half an hour's chat, Potter and his sons returned to the campsite where they socialised with the rest of Dumbledore's Army until the small hours._

_In the next tent are Potter's two closest associates, the ones who know everything about him and yet have always refused to talk to the press. Are they afraid of him, or is it their own secrets they are afraid will leak out, tarnishing the myth of He Who Could Not Be Named's defeat? Now married, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were with Potter almost every step of the way. Like the rest of Dumbledore's Army, they fought in the Battle of Hogwarts and no doubt deserve the plaudits and awards for bravery heaped upon them by a grateful wizarding world. _

_In the immediate aftermath of the battle Weasley, whose famous ginger hair appears to be thinning slightly, entered into employment with the Ministry of Magic alongside Potter, but left only two years later to co-manage the highly successful wizarding joke emporium Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Was he, as he stated at the time, 'delighted to assist my brother George with a business I've always loved'? Or had he had his fill of standing in Potter's shadow? Was the work of the Auror's Department too much for a man who has admitted that the destruction of He who Could Not Be Named's Horcoxes 'took its toll' on him? He shows no obvious signs of mental illness from a distance, but the public is not allowed close enough to make a proper assessment. Is this suspicious?_

_Hermione Granger, of course, was always the _femme fatale_ of the group. Press reports of the time revealed that as a teenager she toyed with the young Potter's affections before being seduced away by the muscular Viktor Krum, finally settling for Potter's faithful sidekick. After a meteoric rise to the Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement, she is now tipped to go even higher within the Ministry, and is also the mother to son, Hugo, and daughter, Rose. Does Hermione Granger prove that a witch really can have it all? (No – look at her hair.)_

_Then there are those members of Dumbledore's Army who receive slightly less publicity than Potter, Weasley and Granger (are they resentful? Almost certainly). Neville Longbottom, now a popular Herbology teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is here in Patagonia with his wife Hannah. Until recently the pair lived above the Leaky Cauldron in London, but rumour has it that Hannah has not only retrained as a Healer, but is applying for the hob of Matron at Hogwarts. Idle gossip suggests that she and her new husband both enjoy a little more Ogden's Old Firewhiskey than most of us would expect from custodians of our children, but no doubt we all wish her the best of luck with her application._

_Last ringleaders of Dumbledore's Army is, of course, Luna Lovegood (now married to Rolf Scamander, swarthy grandson of celebrated Magizoologist Newt). Still delightfully eccentric, Luna has been sweeping around the VIP sections in robes composed of the flags of all sixteen qualifying counties. Her sons are 'at home with grandpa'. Is this a euphemism for 'too disturbed to be seen in public'? Surely on the unkindest would suggest so._

_Sundry other members of the Army are here, but it is on these six that most interest is focused. Wherever there is a red head on may make an educated guess that it belongs to a Weasley, but it is difficult to tell whether it is George (wealth co-manager of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes), Charlie (dragon wrangler, still unmarried – why?) or Percy (Head of the Department of Magical Transportation – it's his fault if the Floo Network's too busy!). The only one who is easy to recognise is Bill, who, poor man, is grievously scarred from an encounter with a werewolf and yet somehow (enchantment? Love potion? Blackmail? Kidnap?) married the undeniably beautiful (though doubtless empty-headed) Fleur Delacour. _

_Word is that we shall see these and other members of Dumbledore's Army in the VIP boxes at the final, adding to the glitz and razzmatazz of a gala occasion. Let us hope that the behaviour of two of their younger hanger-on does not embarrass them, heaping shame on those who have previously brought honour to the name of wizard._

_One always hesitates to invade the privacy of young people. But the fact is that anyone closely connected with Harry Potter reaps the benefits and must pay the penalty of public interest. No doubt Potter will be distressed to know that his sixteen-year-old godson Teddy Lupin – a lanky half-werewolf with bright blue hair – has been behaving in a way unbefitting of wizarding royalty since arriving on the VIP campsite. It might be asking too much that the always-busy Potter keep a tighter rein on the wild boy, who was entrusted to his care by his dying parents, but one shudders to think what will become of Master Lupin without urgent intervention. Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Bill Weasley might like to know that their beautiful, blonde daughter Victoire seems to be attracted to any dark corner where Master Lupin happens to be lurking. The good news is both of them seem to have invented a method of breathing through their ears. I can think of no other reason how they have survived such prolonged periods of what, in my young day, was called 'snogging.'_

_But let us not be severe. Harry Potter and his cohorts never claimed to be perfect! And for those who want to know exactly how imperfect they are, my new biography: _Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side of the Demob _will be available from Flourish and Blotts on July 31__st__. _

Teddy threw the copy of the prophet down onto his bed, where James and Victoire were sitting, his brown eyes slightly worried, and his hair unusually his natural brown opposed to the multitude of bright colours he usually changes it to.

"This is terrible, this is awful, can it possibly get worse than this?" Teddy ranted, beginning to pace his bedroom, which for once was perfectly tidy due to Victoire's extreme dislike of mess.

"I know!" James exclaimed, picking up the Daily Prophet to have a look for himself as Teddy nodded, thankful for the agreement, however that stopped when James added, "Uncle Ron's hair isn't thinning"

James jumped slightly when Teddy snatched the newspaper back from him in an overly vicious manner and gave him a deadpan stare. James smiled sheepishly and adjusted his black, square spectacles.

"That was not what I meant!" Teddy cried, before he fell to his knees in front of Victoire, put his hands on her legs, and looked at her pleadingly. "Please, Vic, please tell me your dad hasn't read this."

Victoire hesitated and James knew what her answer was going to be before she said it. he wagered Teddy did to, but it looked like his elder God Brother was clinging to the small shred of hope that Victoire's hesitance was for a different reason.

"…I think he has…before I came here, maman was muttering and cursing in French about being called 'empty-headed' especially since the only reason she competed in the Triwizard Tournament all those years ago was to stop that stereotype-" Victoire was cut off by a loud groan from Teddy, who slumped backwards to lay on the floor, defeat ingrained into every inch of his body.

"This is it. I'm done for." Teddy said dramatically.

James raised his dark brows and bit back a smile, but the same could not be said for Victoire, who had begun to giggle at her boyfriend's antics. Teddy propped himself up on his elbows to look at Victoire in offence.

"This is your fault," he said accusingly, "if you hadn't attacked me with your mouth, your dad wouldn't be out to kill me."

"It's just funny," Victoire giggled, which was something James had only ever seen her do around Teddy as she was usual so serious, raising her hands in defence. "You're so dead."

"It's not funny," Teddy disagreed readily. I'm going to die, oh Merlin!" He allowed himself to flop back down so that he was staring at the ceiling again.

"Your over-reacting," James said bracingly, Teddy and Victoire both turned to look at him, identical, sceptical expressions. "There might be a little maiming, okay, a little mangling, but he won't kill you. That's what I call an important distinction." James quipped.

"Thanks, James, thanks a lot," Teddy said dryly as Victoire began to laugh harder.

James was only witnessing this moment because he was the only one, besides his father, who knew, before the Daily Prophet article that is, that Teddy and Vic had been dating for a few years now. James was thoroughly surprised when he had found out as in his mind the two of them just didn't fit. Victoire has silvery blonde hair, but Uncle Bill's blue eyes, she's sender and even James could admit that she was extremely beautiful. While Teddy was lanky, with hair that could never quite sit right, not as messy as James' of course, but not far off, and often had a grin on his face. Not to mention, while Victoire loved make-up and shopping and having everything neat, Teddy was clumsy and was never good at following the rules.

Surprisingly, James was a sort of agony uncle for his cousins, most of his family thought he had the 'emotional range of a teaspoon' as Aunt Hermione so eloquently put it, but he was good at picking things up and giving advice, he always helped solver everyone else's problems, even though he was never quite as adept at solving his own.

"Don't worry, Teddy, I'm sure maman can calm him down," Victoire said soothingly, having pulled Teddy to his feet, and kissed him softly. Almost instantaneously, Teddy's hair turned a bubble-gum pink, just as it always did around Victoire as it was a colour he associated with joy.

James groaned. He didn't mind being the person the two of them came to for support, but it meant that he had to see moments like this far too often for his liking.

"Ugh, can you stop for a moment, just until I gouge out my eyes?" asked James, winkling his nose and looking towards the ceiling until the pair of them were no longer locked at the lips.

"Oh, but they're such pretty eyes," Teddy teased.

Despite his teasing, Teddy was telling the truth, James' eyes were pretty. They were a combination of both of his parent's so that they came out a brown that contained shots of green, turning them a vibrant hazel. It was one of James' features that made him look much more like his grandfather, the first James Potter, than his dad.

According to…well, pretty much everyone, James was like James Potter I and Sirius Black in one person. Not only did he have his grandfather's smirk and Sirius' bark-like laugh, but he was a Quidditch fanatic, brash, dynamic, charismatic, loyal, cheeky, but the one difference was that he wasn't as arrogant, in fact, he cared about everyone else's feelings much more than his own. Of course he kept that on a need-to-know basis, don't need anyone thinking James Sirius Potter cared about anyone but himself. James was only eleven and he had already mastered the art of not giving a crap, while secret caring way too much.

There was a knock on Teddy's door and the three of them looked up as it opened and James' mum popped her head inside. She looked at Victoire and Teddy first and a smile bloomed on her face, but she didn't comment on it before she turned to James.

"James, come down, you need to set the table" his mum told him.

James threw back his head with a loud groan as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Can't you make Kreature do it?" he whined.

His mum's brown eyes, so much like his grandma Molly's, narrowed sternly and she said, "No, I can't. you know fine well that this is your punishment for sneaking a Niffler in the house, I still don't know how you and Fred had gotten a hold of one."

James grimaced. He wasn't so much of a mischief-maker that he couldn't admit that bringing Niffler into the house wasn't the smartest idea. While he and Fred were supposed to be at Uncle George's shop, they had snuck down Knockturn Alley and acquired it, before hiding it in his bag to sneak away. The Niffler didn't just cause a small amount of trouble, it was full blown chaos and it had taken Kreature almost three days to get Grimmauld Place back into the state it was before. James and Fred tended to do the reckless thing first and then decide if it had been a good idea.

"Fine," James said reluctantly and followed his mum from the room.

Apparently No. 12 Grimmauld Place used to be dark, dirty and full of dark magic, house elf head on the walls, a screaming portrait in the entry way and snakes adorning chandeliers. James just couldn't picture his warm home, with light flowing so easily through the place, warm mahogany floors and Gryffindor colours splashed here and there, being such a horrid place.

James went down two floors in order to go into the dining room, his mother continuing down another set of stairs to descend to the kitchen. The dining room was huge, it was the room they used when all the Weasley/Potter troops were in attendance, which was more often than not. The walls were a deep red, contrasting against the pale flooring, and a crystal chandelier hung above the large wooden table. James began to set down placemats and cutlery, going as slowly as possible as he debated whether the fork went on the left hand side or the right.

The whole family was coming over in order to celebrate the fact that James and Fred had both received their Hogwarts letters a few days prior. James couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts, he had been waiting for this since Teddy first went. He couldn't wait to cause mischief in the halls that the Weasley twins and the marauders had roamed and he couldn't wait to learn magic. He was sure he was going to be in Gryffindor, 'where dwell the brave at heart', just like his dad.

James was so distracted by his thoughts of Hogwarts, a smile on his face, that when he was rounding the end of the table to set the other half, he tripped and fell. He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his shin and glaring at what he had tripped over – a pile of books.

"Damn it, Al," James grumbled as he got to his feet.

Albus, his younger brother by two years, was always leaving books around. They were in the hallways, in the kitchen, in the bathroom and that doesn't even account for all the ones in his bedroom. James was almost certain there were more books in Albus' bedroom than there was in the library. He didn't know how his brother managed it without getting bored, but his cousin Rose was just the same. He was pretty sure they were up in Albus' room now, probably sitting side by side in silent, immersed in their books.

"-That Mundungus Fletcher, honestly, I just don't know what to do about him. He was caught by an Auror, smuggling stolen Potion ingredient out of Diagon Alley, but he managed to talk himself out of it with just a small fine, he's good with words I'll give him that-" his Aunt Hermione was saying, shaking her head, as she and his mum entered the room.

"Well, he was part of the Order for a reason, he's a damn good crook," his mum looked up as she waved her wand so that the plates of food, which were floating behind her, situated themselves along the centre of the table. "Oh, James, honestly, aren't you done setting the table yet? It should only take five minutes."

"This is a big table!" James said defensively, glancing at his Aunt Hermione, who was going down the table swapping the knives and forks around, clearly he had gotten their placing mixed up. "And 'd be done by now if Al didn't leave his books everywhere" he added defensively, pointing towards the offending books.

His mum sighed and moved to pick the small pile up.

"One of these days someone's going to break their neck on these," Ginny muttered moving passed his dad and Uncle Ron, who were coming to sit at the table with Aunt Hermione.

"Hey, James," Uncle Ron grinned, slapping him on the shoulder and James returned his greeting just as warmly. "Excited for Hogwarts?"

"More than you can imagine!" James exclaimed. "Uncle George promised to give Fred and I some free products to take with us," James spared a glance for his dad "please don't tell mum"

"Your secrets safe with me," His dad laughed, his green eyes swimming with mirth behind his glasses.

His dad was a much more laidback parent than his mum, who tended to scream herself hoarse at James for his antics, Albus for his sleeping habits and mess he left about, and Lily for…well, Lily was the little princess, it wasn't often she was shouted at and all that usually ended up with her shouted at their dad for saying how much she was like their grandma Molly, but James knew she wasn't really angry. James found it funny because his uncle George told him that his mum wasn't the best behaved child.

"Your first child going off to Hogwarts, Harry, who'd have thought it," Uncle Ron said as he sat down next to Aunt Hermione and James sat down on his other side.

"I know," his dad said, shaking his head in a way that showed he could hardly believe it, "It won't be long until Rose and Albus go next"

"Don't remind me," chuckled Aunt Hermione, "we're getting old."

"Speak for yourself, I'm in my peek," uncle Ron commented, and the four of them laughed, however it was cut shut as they turned to the doorway as more of the family entered, not so quietly.

"George Weasley! Honestly, you would think I have three children, not two, you have to stop encouraging him!" Aunt Angelina's voice was heard shouting.

"Come on, Ang, it was only joke," Uncle George's voice came defensively, muffled slightly by repressed laughed.

"Yeah, you can hardly notice it mum," his best friend's, Fred's, voice said, in what James knew was his best charmingly disarming voice that he saved for when he was in trouble.

When the three of them came into the dining room, James could see quite clearly what the 'small joke' was and that Fred was lying when he said you could hardly notice it. Aunt Angelina's skin, instead of its usual cocoa brown, was a shade of magenta.

"Oh, Angelina!" Aunt Hermione cried, hopping to her feet to examine the other woman's skin. "What happened?"

"What do you think happened?" Angelina asked, glaring at her husband and son, who were both snickering. "These pair thought it would be funny to replace my perfume with a colour changing potion and they don't even know the antidote."

"That was incredibly irresponsible of you two, what if she's stuck like that?" Hermione said to uncle George and Fred, looking stern. "What will her boss say if she has to go to work like this?"

"Hermione, I'm an adult now," Uncle George said and, ignoring Uncle Ron's muttering of "barely", continued to add, "we're not at school where you can act all prefect-y and stern"

Hermione huffed.

"Come on, Angelina, we'll go to the bathroom and see if I can't come up with a way to sort this out," she said and ushered Aunt Angelina from the room, the two of them shooting a glare at George as they left.

"Alright guys?" George grinned, sitting down beside James' dad as though he hadn't just gotten a good scolding from his wife and sister-in-law.

Right there was one of the reasons why his Uncle George was his favourite uncle: he was so laid back and could take a joke, unlike most adults, especially his Uncle Percy, heaven forbid you try and prank him. Another reason was that his Uncle George understood exactly what it was like to want everyone to think that causing trouble was all there was to him, while secretly caring more than most.

James didn't listen to what his dad and Uncle Ron began to say to Uncle George, instead automatically turning his attention to Fred, who had taken the seat on the other side of him. James and Fred were closer to each other than twins. When James and Fred were together, it was like they were the only ones there. It wasn't that they deliberately shut people out, they were people-people at heart after all, but they were essentially the same person and could communicate in a way others couldn't fathom, he and Fred could follow each other's train of thought as though it was their own.

There was no jealousy or competitiveness in their friendship, it was just…them. they shared everything, from secrets to insecurities to just random ideas that had popped into their heads. James didn't really have anything that was just his as he and Fred shared absolutely every possession with each other, clothes, broom, books, pranking products, everything swapped from James to Fred and from Fred to George, so often that their parents had just learn to accept that anything they bought for one, they were essentially buying for the other too.

Fred looked almost exactly like his dad, albeit a younger version that still had his ear. He had the same red hair that the majority of the Weasleys possessed, and his dad's blue eyes, but his complexion was quite a lot darker.

James and Fred didn't exchange a greeting, the fact that they were sitting so close together that their arms brushed together and there were mere inches stopping their legs from touching too, was enough for them.

He looked his best friend up and down and then grimaced.

"She didn't?" he said, knowing without a doubt that Fred would know exactly what he was talking about, the two of them never needed to elaborate thoughts with each other.

"She did," Fred nodded, a similar expression of distaste on her face.

Fred was a wearing a hideously ugly sweater that James knew without asking that his mum had made it, which was the only reason Fred - he put a lot of stock in his good appearance: his hair always styled and he was never seen wearing the same thing twice, but one constant was the grey bandana that was always tied around his left wrist - would wear such a ghastly thing. Aunt Angelina was trying to learn kitting from Grandma Molly. It wasn't going well at all, but no one had the heart to tell her, and those who had were threatened by Uncle George under penalty of death not to tell her. Aunt Angelina had quite a temper, especially when it came to someone telling her she wasn't good at something.

"Well, we'll be at Hogwarts soon, you won't have to ever see it again," said James as Uncle Charlie, Uncle Percy, Aunt Audrey and Molly entered the dining room to sit at the other end of the table.

"Maybe I can tell mum someone stole it…" Fred mused slowly.

"No way, she'd try and make you another," James said, shaking his head firmly. "Who knows what will happen if she tried again. Remember that scarf she made Lily?"

Both James and Fred shuddered just thinking about it.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur came to sit at the table next, quickly followed by Teddy and Victoire, who sat opposite the two adults. Victoire and Aunt Fleur seemed to be having an intense conversation in French that James suspected was about Teddy and Victoire's relationship, especially judging by the look on Uncle Bill's face. Uncle Bill was talking to Teddy at all, he was just staring at him intimidatingly with his arms cross over his broad chest, his scarred face scarily blank. Teddy gulped his hair flashing from blue to brown for a moment as he shifted awkwardly in his seat.

The next to come into the room was Dominique, who was just one year older than James and Fred, and she sat down opposite him. Dominique was James' favourite cousin and she had been since he was four and, despite being only five, kissed his knee better when he fell over. They shared a passion for Quidditch and James' compassion balanced Dominique's fairly narcissistic personality nicely. He was the only one who could deal with her offhanded insults when she got into a mood, as contrary to popular belief, James was not hot-headed, that was always Albus and Lily.

"Hey, Nikki!" James said brightly, an easy smile blooming on his face.

"Hey, James," Dominque replied, flipping his strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder as she looked at him, before turning her silvery eyes onto Fred, "Hey Fred."

"Alright, Dom?" Fred greeted. "What's up?"

James was the only one who was allowed to call Dominique 'Nikki'. He had been calling her that since he was five and decided that since she was his favourite cousin he didn't want to call her 'Dom' like everyone else did.

"Not much, Victoire tried to force me into a dress before we came here," said Dominique, sneering the word dress as though just saying the word disgusted her.

"Oh, the horror!" James and Fred both gasped simultaneously.

"You joke now," said Dominique seriously, "but you're boys, you never have to wear those torture devices"

"And hopefully it stays that way," said James, chuckling slightly.

Seven years olds, Lily and Hugo came into the room next. Lily looked almost exactly like their mother, right down to the chocolate brown eyes and pin-straight ginger hair, but judging from old photos, she looked a lot like their grandma Lily too. Hugo looked much like uncle Ron, only his hair was brown like Aunt Hermione and he had her almond shaped brown eyes too.

Following closely behind the youngest members of the family, was Rose and Albus. Rose's bushy red hair was pulled back in its usually messy bun, keeping it out of her eyes, which were identical to her brother Hugo's. Albus was a carbon copy of their dad, with the same green eyes, messy black hair and pale skin, but he didn't have glasses or a scar.

The two of them seemed to already be in some sort of argument, which looked to be about books. Albus and Rose didn't agree on much. In fact, they rarely agreed on anything. They fought all the time and they challenged each other every day. They were each other's worst enemy, but in the end they were best friends. James couldn't be sure how the dynamic worked as it was so different to his intense connection with Fred.

"You know that shop down the road that sold the stuff and there was that old woman with the-" James gestured to his head to indicate a weird hair style.

"oh, yeah, course, there was that coat that was so-" Fred didn't even have to come up with and adjective before the two of them began to laugh. "What about it?"

"Well, you know last week when we thinking about-" James started and Fred's blue eyes lit up as he understood immediately.

"Really?" Fred said excitedly and James grinned. "We can do it soon then, do you know-?"

"No yet," James shook his head. "We'll figure it out," he said flippantly.

Aunt Hermione and Aunt Angelina had returned now and sat down at the table. Aunt Angelina was no longer bright magenta, but her skin was looking slightly more pink than usual.

"I hate it when you two do that," it was Dominique who spoke and James and Fred looked up to see her scowling at them. "No one can ever follow your conversations, it's no wonder people think you're stupid most of the time," she rolled her eyes.

"Well, no one asked you, it's not our fault you can't follow along," Fred snapped, narrowing his eyes. One difference between James and Fred was that Fred had more of a temper, despite most of the time being so easy-going and Fred could be meaner than James. "Do you want us to speak slowly and in small words so you can follow along?" Fred asked his tone one you would use when talking to a small child.

"Oh, trust me, no matter what words you choose no one could understand the sheer stupidity that you spew, Fred," said Dominique sharply.

Despite being his favourite cousin, James could readily admit that Dominique could sometimes be really bitchy, which often got her in arguments with their cousins. James was the only one that could handle her when she was like that, although Roxanne, Lucy and Louis weren't that bad at it.

"Calm down, Nikki, you know how Fred and I get. We forget people can't follow us sometimes," James cut in before Fred could say anything else.

Dominique glared at Fred for a moment, before her posture relaxed and she turned to have a conversation with Uncle Bill, much to Teddy's relief, who was looking at though he was going to be sick.

"All done!" James' mum announced as Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur levitated more food onto the table and she sat down beside his dad with a sigh of relief.

"Before we start-" his dad said, stopping Hugo and Uncle Ron short as they looked read to grab the food, "A toast to-" he picked up his goblet.

"Fred, where's Roxanne?" Aunt Angelina asked, cutting across James' dad.

"I don't know," Fred shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know? You were supposed to be watching her!" Aunt Angelina snapped and the rest of the family looked between the two of them.

"Ang, he couldn't very well watch her, you scolding us on the perfume incident," Uncle George cut in, trying to play peace maker to his wife.

"Louis told me that he was going out with her and Lucy," Dominique said.

"Did he zay where?" Aunt Fleur asked, frowning disapprovingly about the fact Domonique hadn't stopped her son from leaving.

Dominique shook her head and Aunt Angeline, Aunt Fleur and Uncle Percy sighed in annoyance about their children.

"Well, as I was saying-" his dad started again, but yet again he was cut off, this time by the entrance of Roxanne, Lucy and Louis, who came in and sat down as though they weren't even late.

Roxanne looked like a younger version of Aunt Angelina, only with Uncle George's blue eyes. Roxy liked anything that sparkly, which was often shown in her outfits and love of putting glitter on things. If you stayed still long enough it was almost a guarantee that Roxy would make you more glittery.

Much like Roxy's love of sparkly things, Lucy had a love of colour. The sneakers she always wore were doodled on and the laces coloured, blue, green and yellow ribbon was platted into her ginger hair and there were colourful bracelets up each wrist. Lucy was rather small, extremely clumsy and couldn't keep a secret even if she tried.

Louis had his mother's silvery blonde hair, but his dad's tan skin and blue eyes, which resulted in him looking like the male version of Victoire. Louis liked to gossip, which was perhaps bad considering he was best friends with Lucy, who would then accidentally tell everyone else what Louis had told her and Roxy.

Everyone at the table was looking at the three of them with wide eyes.

"Lucy, Roxy, Louis, I'm probably going to regret this…" Aunt Audrey started, looking slightly weary, "but is there a reason you're purple?"

All three of them were in fact a shocking shade of purple and James suspected they had used the same product that Uncle George and Fred had used on Aunt Angelina. James wasn't entirely sure why he was surprised at the turn of events. The three of them may not be trouble-makers like James and Fred, but they were the craziest in the family. In fact, Roxanne, Louis and Lucy were known as the crazy trio and had been since they were six. It was at that age that they had come up with the logic that if they slept under their beds the monsters therefor couldn't. That particular quirk lasted longer than was healthy. Aunt Angelina, Uncle Bill and Uncle Percy ended up having to put a cushioning charm on their bedroom floors.

"Well," Roxy started, "we were at August's house down the road and, since she's a muggle and all, she showed us this thing called a movie, which was called Willy Wonka"

"And they had these colourful people type things called umpalumpas," Louis put in.

"And I thought, 'hey, wouldn't it be cool if we were green'?" Lucy said, as though suggesting that being green was a completely valid idea, which James supposed to the crazy trio it was.

"Then I said 'green is a horrid colour, not to mention is for Slytherins, what about orange instead'?" said Roxy.

"But I said that orange would class with my hair," said Lucy gesturing to her wavy ginger hair as she spoke, "so what about blue?"

"But I'm not fond of blue," said Louis, "so we thought-"

"Basically, you decided on purple," said Uncle George, looking amused at the whole think, contrasting greatly against Uncle Ron, who was looking at the crazy trio as though they were insane, and Uncle Percy, who looked as though he was getting a headache just trying to understand why he daughter couldn't be more like him like Molly had been.

James' dad cleared his throat and after looking strangely at Roxy, Louis and Lucy, held up his goblet again, "Okay, last time, a toast to James and Fred, who are about to go into their first year at Hogwarts and we couldn't be prouder."

James beamed at the pride in his father's eyes as the rest of the Weasley/Potter clan cheered, before everyone immediately tucked into the food. James loved his mother's cooking and secretly thought it was better than Grandma Molly's, he knew that Hogwarts food was supposed to be the best in the country, but he couldn't help but think he would miss it.

James' arm brushed against Fred's as they ate and they both looked at each other at the same time, both grinning widely, their eyes brimming with excitement for what was to come.


End file.
